Commercial development continues to explode in Martensville with construction set to start in September on the province’s first recreational vehicle (RV) mall, located in the City’s new 20-acre Northlands Business Park between the busy Highway 12 and Centennial Drive North.

Oak Centre RV Mall, a 15-acre RV Mall consisting of a 20,000 square foot building that will house TRX RV and Truck Camper Canada, will serve as anchor for the Northlands Business Park. The Mall will be flanked by leased-based businesses along its entrance with additional businesses located on three-quarter acre and larger lots making up the remainder of the Mall.

Mall lots are available for purchase by any RV-related business from RV dealerships to boat, snowmobile, quad and motorcycle dealerships and repair shops to RV cleaning and oil change services. The doors to the new TRX RV, currently located in North Saskatoon, should be open by the end of the year.

Commercial and light industrial businesses can also purchase three-quarter acre and larger lots in the Business Park, Phase I of which will begin in spring 2014. More information about the Business Park will be shared as development continues. The land for the RV Mall and Business Park was originally owned by Saskatoon’s North Prairie Developments, which has been behind many of Martensville’s recent commercial development projects.

Owner Tom Oakes is excited about the projects and says RV storage will initially be available at the mall, as well as short-term RV parking for people in the area for a night to attend a concert, wedding or other event in Saskatoon, or even just overnight parking for RV servicing.

“The project is unique,” says Oakes. “RV malls are rare - I’m not even sure there’s anything similar being done in Canada, so we’re really excited about starting construction on this project.”

Oakes’s commercial sales agent, Eugene Hritzuk of ICR Commercial Real Estate, says commercial businesses base their decisions on things like traffic count, and Martensville certainly can offer that. “This is a very significant stretch of highway,” says Hritzuk. “The traffic count there is second highest in the province, with the busiest stretch of highway being the TransCanada between Regina and White City”.

Oakes agrees traffic count was the primary reason he chose Martensville, but he also says it was difficult to find a block of land large enough to take on such big projects. He says the proximity to the north and lake country was also appealing for an RV Mall, and that working with the City of Martensville was refreshing. “The city and the people there are very-business oriented, forward-thinking and progress-driven, values which matched with my goals perfectly.”

Dillon Shewchuk, City of Martensville Community & Economic Development Manager responsible for encouraging business and commercial development, says growth in Martensville is leading to increased demand for specialized services like the future RV Mall. “With our population growth and thousands of vehicles passing by Martensville each day, business owners are seeing how successful even specialized commercial development projects in Martensville can be.”

In the past two years, fast-food franchises including Taco Time, Tim Horton’s, Dairy Queen, Little Caesers Pizza, and Second Cup have expanded into Martensville. Pharmasave and Canalta Hotel are currently beginning or under construction, and Saskatoon Co-op will open a new gas bas and convenience store in the coming year. “These are really exciting times for Martensville, and we’re looking forward to continued development in our city, particularly in our commercial areas,” says Shewchuk.

For more information on the City of Martensville contact: Dillon Shewchuk Manager, Community & Economic Development (306) 931-2166 ext. 26

For more information on the RV Mall and Northlands Business Park contact: Eugene Hritzuk ICR Commercial Real Estate (306) 933-2929